Silent is the World
by lil kagome 15
Summary: SLML Challenge autumn is here! Aoshi and Misao take a stroll in the autumn leaves! So kawai![must read][part of the blood red series][completed]


**Silent is the World**

**SLML Challenge--- ** autumn is here! Aoshi and Misao take a stroll in the autumn leaves! So kawai!

**by: **lilkagome

**Disc: **I own nothing used in this fic... at all...

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The cool air came wafting through the cracked open shoji, sending shivers down Misao's spine as she once more swung into a rapid series of attacks. The walls were now lined with numerous amounts of her kunai and she sighed as she leaned back, the cool wall making her skin feel sticky. She panted hard, letting her eyes drift closed as she listened to the lightly bowing wind.

To anyone else it would have been insignificant, but to her it signified the changing of the season, the once still, stuffy air of summer had left its stagnant nature behind to become cooler, almost more alive. She flattened her hand on the wall, the sweat having accumulated on it making it feel sticky as well. She sighed as she opened her eyes, watching as the door slid open and Aoshi entered-for the first time in some months- the training hall.

She stood up straight immediately, and bowed her head in respect. Of course two months ago this might have been a rare sight for the overly genki girl, but she had found that after her last trip she couldn't look at her beloved much the same.

She could remember the darkness as they had walked through the damp woods, the sun having set hours before. She remembered clearly the low din of crickets as they reached their destination. She remembered being cornered, her eyes wide in shock as her last kunai was thrown at one of three men. Deadly odds she had been set against and she had won in the end.

She had been saved. Her savior was not some egotistical police officer, nor was it the soft-spoken night in shining armor spoken of as children. It was a tall brooding male that had jumped in the way of the first katana, it striking directly into his shoulder. He didn't so much as wince as he caught the guys arm and threw him back into the opposite wall.

The remaining two men had been tougher than expected though, and even with Misao using her kempo, and Aoshi with his famous kodachi, it had ended up with both of them wounded.

Misao remembered the scent of mint and ginger assaulting her nostrils as she slept, the small cave they camped in glowing a fair golden from the ever-flickering flames. She had woken to find him sitting across from her, his back leaning against the wall, his eyes closed and his breathing even. He looked so serene she almost couldn't believe it real.

She remembered looking at his bandaged left arm, only wishing she had gone sparingly with her kunai, maybe then she would have been able to prevent that injury. She nearly teared at the thought. How many scars had been to the result of her recklessness? How many times had she been a hindrance to him, only holding him back. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't.

She could remember the pain in her gut as she remembered the stiff metal cutting swiftly through the flesh. How many wounds would she have by result of her recklessness? How many men would shake their heads, or turn up their nose. She sighed as she leaned her head to her knees, letting the tears fall from her green eyes.

She had sat like that for only but a minute before she felt warm arms engulf her. For that moment she felt so small, so insignificant to the world. She felt like a child having scraped their knee, only caring about the pain of the moment, and crying to show the sadness and hurt she felt.

She remembered sleeping in his arms, and waking up the same. She remembered the silent trek back, the leaves having turned a light yellow color. She remembered the crickets didn't chirp that night, it rained actually, so insignificant, yet she'll always remember it.

She neared Aoshi, smiling her genki smile as she greeted him. He nodded in reply and gestured for her to follow. It was a fairly calm evening, no clouds to speak of, and the wind blew only slightly. She held her hands in front of her, not wanting to act un-proper for the moment.

Aoshi took a deep breath as if preparing to speak, but then let it out the next moment. Was it always going to be like this? Would they forever just think the words they wanted so badly to say? Misao lowered her head in thought as well as disappointment as she followed him further into the woods, the red leaves crunching with every step they took.

"How's your wound?" Asked Aoshi almost inaudibly. Did he blame himself? Was that why he acted this way? Was it pity?

Misao looked to him and shook her head. "Healed, but I still don't know why you worry so much about it, it was only a mild injury, no vital organs damaged at all." She chirped, her smile never faltering.

Aoshi cringed at that, but looked ahead nonetheless. He eyed her curiously; watching as she calmly followed him, her energy for the most part under control. He looked at her face, it seemed so different... Was it just him? She seemed to have matured over night. He frowned at that thought, knowing that it would only result in further misguiding.

He stopped, his head tilted slightly as he scanned the treetops, noticing the leaves were all the same color in this spot. It was peculiar really, the red was so deep it almost looked to be blood, the sky so blue it looked almost to be crying against the red.

He looked back to her, his eyes warming as he saw her picking up a leaf. It had been so long; he thought as he watched her twirl it lightly in her small hand. She seemed so delicate, just as the frail leaf now residing in her hand. He watched as she looked down at it, examining the pure color it had gained as summer had passed into fall. It was the brightest red she had yet to see, she felt in her heart that this meant something though, like something was going to happen.

She dropped to leaf to the ground, her heart pounding as she sensed the strong ki approaching. Of course it had been a long time until she had finally perfected her senses of ki, but she had in the end, and was proud of that fact.

She was nearly frozen in fear as she watched Aoshi unsheathe his kodachi. What was going on? Why did she feel like she was glued to this spot? She found her head spinning in seconds as an elderly man approached, his sword wrapped in deep purple cloth. He looked to be observing them, as if he knew some hidden secret.

"Misao!" Aoshi said, watching in horror as she was sent sprawling across the dead red leaves. He couldn't hardly tell the difference between the sticky red liquid to the dry red leaves. She tried to push herself back up, but found her strength depleted. She coughed and looked to Aoshi, not knowing what to do.

A sword was to her back, her eyes closing as she mouthed good-bye. Aoshi just stared, his heart clenching as he fought for restraint. One move could be fatal for her he couldn't risk it.

"Come with us or the girl dies." Came the harsh voice of the elderly man. "If you hesitate I will kill her." He said and Aoshi bowed his head, stepping forward to the man, knowing that the first thing he would have to do is get them away from Misao. He just couldn't risk fighting them with her in such a vulnerable state.

He watched her shake her head, her arms coming underneath her, she looked so pale... so deathly. He felt his heart wrench; his chest felt like it was being pulled apart from the inside. He looked at her small hands pushing her up further; surely she could not be trying what he thought she was.

Sure enough he watched her swing herself around, her body coming to land swiftly on her feet. She swung her left leg out, causing the man at her back to fall to the ground. It took her a moment to snatch the offending blade, holding it in her pale hands. Aoshi let go of the breath he had been holding and immediately turned unsheathing his kodachi yet again to go after the older male.

It couldn't have been two minutes later he had him pinned to a tree, his body unable to escape Aoshi's death-grip. He looked at the man, watching amusedly as he prayed to Kami-sama his final prayer.

"Why come after us?" He asked, his voice sharp as he stared into the brown eyes of his elder.

"Because it was you who made the world silent." The man said, his eyes closing as he brought his sword up, stabbing himself in the chest. Aoshi didn't have much time to react as he watched the man's eyes widen, his smile fading as he fell down the tree, leaving the trunk sticky with the red elixir of life. Aoshi bowed his head, praying briefly for the man to be forgiven.

Misao hefted the other guy up, keeping the sharp blade to his back. "Why did you come after us?" She asked harshly, knowing that he could only answer.

"Because you murdered my brothers..." The man said, and for a second Misao felt regret. She let the man fall to the ground, now broken down in tears. "And now my father too." He said, and in that moment he couldn't have been more than a minute part of the world, but a speck on a thousand miles of parchment. The pages unwritten of the life he was destined to have.

He sobbed brokenly into his hands, his head coming back as he screamed to the sky, screaming that his life must end now. Of course the impossibility of this would cause him to sob harder, his world falling to nothing as he looked up at them. "I have nothing." Were his words as he looked back at them.

"Vindication can only be found if you continue on your journey. Don't ever forget they died with the honor of their own beliefs." We're Aoshi's simple words as he pulled Misao along with him, leaving the man crying in a pile of dead leaves and dried blood.

They came to a halt at the very edge of the woods, and it was there that for the first time in her life, Misao witnessed a grown man cry, and not just a grown man... but Aoshi. She teared up not knowing what to do. She wrapped her arms around him, unsure at first but that feeling only lingered for a few more moments.

"I thought I would lose you! Never again!" He said and gathered her up in his arms. "I've made too many mistakes in my lifetime to make another in losing you. I may speak big, but I've yet to admit to myself that the only vindication I have is you." He said as he sobbed into her shoulder, causing her eyes to go wide as she let her tears fall too.

"Aoshi-sama..." She said her words cracked as she said this, her eyes almost blank as she held onto him. She could deal with her problems later; right now all that mattered to her was the man before her, the man in her arms. She looked into his eyes, taking his hands to her cheek. "Suki desu." She said, her arms snaking around his neck, her head falling next to his.

Aoshi just stood there, just holding her, and admiring the _woman_ his little Misao had become. He looked down at the top of her head, knowing now that he had been blind to all the feeling he had. He had made excuses for some time now, and finally he was willing to let his selfishness take place for once. He wanted her love, and he would give her his back tenfold.

"Aishiteru." He said to her, his eyes lingering on hers as she leaned back, her green eyes were wide, the falling leaves surrounding them creating a surreal look. She flew into his arms, most of her genkiness restored. For a moment all sound was lost in the world as they held to each other, their worlds once two turning to one as they kissed, making their love final.

The leaves fell silently around them, no sound to be hears as Aoshi took pleasure in deepening the kiss. For a moment the whole world was caught in a trance, the leaves creating a dance for two lovers who can make the world silent.

----And Screen Fades To Black---

Finisho! Ah yes, yet another fanfiction done! And I will be asking for review people...hehehe Thank you yet again!

**Gomen Nasai-** Sorry for any and all misspelled or miss-worded sentences, I do not have spell check on my laptop as of yet so gomen once again!


End file.
